Ritual funerary stick. A bundle of plant fibre is densely wrapped by twisted fibres pigmented in alternating bands of colour in rust brown, white and dark yellow. Small white feathers and feather down are attached along the length of the stick, and the ends are capped with hard, dried mud. The stick is flexible.

Gift of Nobuko Kajitani

Henry L. Batterman Fund

Shell bead necklace with feather pendant. Necklace consists of a single, closed, strand of bell shaped shell beads. Feather pendant is attached by bending the quill over the plastic cord.

Headdress in the style of a bearclaw headdress, except the "claws" are each carved from sheep horn. Two thick leather strips are stitched together at the ends to form a circular forehead strap. Attached to the strap are 24 long, curved "claws" sewn on at their proximal ends. Each is attached by a nail to a small square of horn. Their distal ends are blunted, and a small hole has been bored through each tip for cotton string to pass through. The string connects the horn claws to each other and to two large feather pieces (lower shafts), as well as to short leather thongs. Thin pieces of sinew are wrapped around the string. A piece of cotton is tied to each side, dropping down under the headdress where they are tied together.

Tall, freestanding sculpture carved of wood. A female wearing a white mask embellished with painted lines and crescent motifs holds an axe aloft in her right hand. She wears a shell and sago fibre necklace around her neck, and a short sago skirt at her waist. Atop her head is a large sea bird painted in shades of light brown, with wings stretched up and out, beak and talons grasping a fish attached to the woman's forehead. The woman sits on the shoulders of a male figure, painted dark brown, who grasps her legs, wearing a large crocodile mask and a feathered loin cloth around his waist. He stands on a small round base carved as a turtle. The eyes of all the figures are shell.

Golden, bronze and chocolate-brown cassowary feathers are attached at the base to a cone of bees wax adorned with coix seeds. The base of the feathers emerge from the point of the cone and are tied together with sago leaf fibres and bast string which are attached to a 7cm-long thin, pointed piece of wood.

Headdress made of Bird of Paradise feathers, ranging in colour from gold through bronze to dark brown, each tied to a braided band of cotton. The base of the feathers are squeezed together in sets of approximately 20 and folded over the bottom string and through two loops at the back of the braid. The braid ends in a loop on the left and a tie on the right with a small knot at the end.

Ornament made of the feature feathers of a Bird of Paradise, as well its breast feathers, still attached to the skin. Two sets of long, fine, light brown feathers hang from the skin of the throat, which is covered in shorter, dark brown feathers. The bird’s lower beak is folded over and resting within a cavity between the sets of feathers.

Felt headband with carved wooden frontlet of eagle. Band is made of red felt, with balsa wood carving of an eagle head at centre. Bird has two feathers atop the head, with large eyes rimmed in blue, and an open beak with slightly protruding tongue. Neck is painted with feathers in black. The head is attached to a piece of black leather that is sewn to the band with hide strips. Three shell buttons are sewn to band at both sides of the eagle head.